It's true: Windows is caught between Mac and Linux

I guess it's all in how you look at it. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols provides the following bit of time killer over on Desktop Linux, which I'm guessing is one of the lonelier Web destinations these days:

For the first time in ages, the sale of new PCs with Windows as a percentage of the PC market is declining sharply. The new winner is the Mac, but, while no one does a good job of tracking the still-new, pre-installed Linux desktop market, it's also clear that Linux is finally making impressive inroads into Windows' once unchallenged market share.

I see two strong trends here. On the high end, people are buying Macs instead of Windows PC. On the low end, Linux is eating Windows alive.

Windows finds itself being confined to the middle ground.

As proof, he cites the US-only, retail-only NPD numbers that made the rounds this week on all the Mac fanatic sites, and "empirical evidence makes it clear that Linux desktops are moving into customers' hands at a quick pace." I feel that neither of these is particularly relevant from a wider trend perspective, but I do like the concept of Windows being "caught between Mac and Linux." So much, in fact, that I graphed it with Excel, using actual, real-world market share figures from calendar year 2007. And when you do this, here's what you get, ladies and gentlemen. I present: Windows, caught between Mac and Linux:

Funny. But the article does bring up an interesting point. I agree that macs are generally sold to the upper % of spenders, but don't think the opposite it true for linux. I think that Windows still covers the low end up to the high end. Mac steals a little of that high end business, but linux really just steals a small amount from all over the spectrum. It isn't like Linux is the OS for poor people or anything like that. Most average consumers dont even know linux exists. Linux is for the tech savvy, the religious open sourcers, and the business trying to save a buck or two, and that group of users spans a far wider spectrum than simply "low end".
http://www.chipnit.com

Lies, damned Lies and Statistics. :-)
Paul,
You and others use very honest stats to back up your arguments. This is a case of no one being wrong because everybody isright. Recently we have heard that the Asus PC is flying off the shelves, Mac laptops are being used by 40% of US Freshmen this year and that the Apple now has 14% of the American computer market. You quite rightly point out that Windows has 96% of the world computer market. Mac sales are mostly confined to places like the US, Canada, Western Europe and Australia and New Zealand. Windows has almost all the market share in India and China although with right pricing for those markets, I wouldn't think profits would be impressive.
What is one supposed to make of this?
Stats are interesting. Say you were a Martian and you took a peek at a formal dinner. You would conclude that 100% of male earthlings wore dinner jackets (tuxedos to our mates across the pond). Your observation would be correct, but your conclusion would be wrong.
Take for instance over that last 20 years I have had about 23 computers. Now 20 were provided by work and were Windows computers while I have owned an Atari and two Macs - but because most of my computer work takes place at home about 90% of my work was done on the Macs. Also I chose to buy the Atari and the Macs while some unseen person decided that I should use Windows. Looking at the bare data would give you a very different idea from the way that I work and the choices regarding computers that I have made.
Interestingly enough in the last couple of years our IT guys have wanted to go over to Linux, but Senior management has vetoed the idea because they want to use the same OS as they use at home.
Data is marvellous but it depends on how you interpret it. Take for example the BBC notoriously used the 3% figure of worldwide Mac use to justify not providing the iPlayer for MacUsers. When they were asked what percentage of hits on their website came from MacUsers the shamefaced answer was 'about 30%'. The BBC has now admitted that about 9% of Home Users in the UK use Macs and are now designing an iPlayer for Mac and Linux Users. (The iPlayer is paid for by our television licence which is a type of tax and Mac and Linux rather objected that public money was being used to give Microsoft an unfair commercial advantage.)
Until last week our University refused to support Mac or Linux Users with the excuse that they were only 3% of the market, but breakdowns showed that between 10 and 20% of all students at the university were using Macs and they now have changed their policy.
Is the 40% Freshmen figure relevant to you if you run a college computer shop in the US? Yes The 3% figure is irrelevant.
Is the 14% figure relevant if you are sales manager of a Computer Warehouse in the US? Yes. The 3% figure is irrelevant.
Is your 3% figure relevant if you are trying to decide what resources to devote to providing drivers for a worldwide market. Yes. The other figures are not so relevant.
Basically you need to apply the statistics properly to see if they are relevant to your situation and for each situation it will be different.
As far as Linux beginning to dominate the Desktop, I am not sure where that one came from but they do seem to be making strong inroads with the low-cost laptop market.

The 96% market share chart is a snapshot in time of a mature and saturated PC market that has no further growth potential, even for Microsoft. Corporations, banks, and retail outlets are big users of Windows, but what can Microsoft possibly do to entice them to upgrade? These users are well served with nothing fancier than DOS and they don't need to pay extra for eye-candy or GUI wizardry to meet their bottom line.
What the static chart doesn't represent is what's happening over time and how things are developing in the new non-PC markets like the consumer and mobile markets. It doesn't capture the fact that OS X is installed in the iPhone or iPod Touch, two devices which are capturing increasing shares of existing markets or defining them. Also, the chart doesn't capture the dynamic adoption by the younger generation of MacBooks over Windows-based laptops. These are tomorrow's consumers and they're open-minded about Macs.
So, I don't see the the 96% purple swath remaining that large over too long a time.

Numbers. Everyone uses them for their BIAS, and Paul is the king of that. His numbers are right for sure. Years and years of MS market strong arming has led to this.
US numbers are probably more relevant here for a few reasons....
1. Of the 16 people that come to this blog, probably 98.9% are US or UK.
2. As someone noted China and India are 99% Windows. Why because Windows is free there. No one pays for it.
3. I have XP on my work notebook, and XP on a kids PC that came with that PC. My other computers are Mac's. I am in IT and everyone I know that has XP probably did not pay for it. They got it someplace, where I dont know or care. MS knows this and pretty much if you are not selling illegal copies they dont care. If fact Bill Gates was one quoted as saying that Windows is the most pirated software and he laughed about and made some comment about getting the money from them someday. One can only assume he meant that once they are invested heavily they will make it harder and harder to pirate future versions and get money out of everyone.
4. In Europe you are starting to see a real MS hate fest, and a Linux love fest. Give it a few years and see what happens.
Windows dominates total world wide market share....that they do. Looking at all other stats, and things are changing. Apple's growth quarter over last years quarter is insane, and MS wish they had half of that growth.
As more and more apps move to web based, hosted...etc, Windows will loose its grip. As more workers work from home via Citrix and other hosted application solutions, Windows will loose its grip. When I work from home, Windows apps work just fine with a my Citrix client for OS X.
Just another bash Apple/Linux from our Winsupersite MS apologist to try to drum up reader #17

"What the static chart doesn't represent is what's happening over time and how things are developing in the new non-PC markets like the consumer and mobile markets"
@halesgarcia: That is not the purpose of the chart. The article is about desktop OS's. Having pointed that out, I'd also like to remind you that it doesn't take into account mobile juggernaut Windows Mobile or Blackberry for that matter either.

."I have XP on my work notebook, and XP on a kids PC that came with that PC. My other computers are Mac's. I am in IT and everyone I know that has XP probably did not pay for it. They got it someplace, where I dont know or care. "
That last sentence right there said it all. Is you're point that no one is 'buying' windows and that iBoi's lining up to pay $129 for a service pack indicate Mac is more dominant?
Apple Inc total net revenue is a fart in the wind compared to the Windows group alone at MS.
Marketshare is everything and thats why Microsoft won the OS wars.

"In Europe you are starting to see a real MS hate fest, and a Linux love fest. Give it a few years and see what happens."
MS has been hated here since 98 and almost got broken up. I've been hearing about Linux making 'inroads' since then....you keep on waiting and stroking that might mouse but just don't hold your breath.

Weedmonk, my point is that people dont often choose Windows. They get it forced on them at work, and with a new computers, or they pirate it.
I surely dont. I use if for work on my work provided notebook, and I work on Windows servers at work. At home, in the US I choose something different, and I am part of a growing trend in the US for sure.
At my place work, the adoption has Vista been shelved after extensive testing resulted in high cost of conversion for little to no gain. Will XP be replaced with a non-windows OS? Possibly but probably not by Linux or OS X, more like a think client/Citrix/Terminal Server/VDI solution.
Honestly I dont care what they do in Europe, I just know that extracting money from MS via European law is something of a sport over there. Articles about German towns ditching Windows for Linux are popular as well.

Hey wait, not so fast Lindy.. That you hate Windows (or for that matter, anything Microsoft), is obvious maybe, but not understandable, but I am not going to sit and watch and say nothing when you say 99% of India are pirates.. Now have you ever been to India, or seen that 99% of them use pirated Windows? I am from India, and absolutely object to your utterly pathetic biased opinion. Who the hell gives you the right to say this I don't know. I think it is you who are using numbers for Bias now..
Hate windows as you want (not that it will have any effect on me whatsoever) but don't you make any such unsolicited statements and expect to get away with it.. and since you are such a windows hater, why the hell are you here, reading a Blog meant for Windows users, anyway?

And yes, I usually wouldn't make a comment like this, but tell me what do you make out of a suggestion if someone tells you that all mac users are fanatics (like you) just because some vocal minority chooses to tarnish their image?
And yes, I chose to use Windows, because I find it good, and because I chose it over a Mac, not because someone forced me to use it.. Understand? And I wouldn't stoop down to your level to even acknowledge (leave aside replying) to some of the other comments of yours..

kanwaljit, you dont know that I hate Windows more than I know the true rate of software piracy in India. I dont hate Windows, that would be stupid, its sofware. I maintain a very large Enterprise Windows Server environment for a living. I think Windows 2003/2008, XP, Exchange, and SQL are great products.
I think Vista, SMS, Virtual PC/Server, WHS, the Zune, and the 360 to name a few are total junk. I think Office is now bloated as heck and way over priced. I have either maintained or owned all of these including a Zune I won at Microsoft event. My 360 has RROD'ed twice now.
What I dont like is Microsoft's focus on total domination, and its lack of innovation. They focus on number of features vs what customers want. They focus on a product having many lackluster, buggy features over a fewer high quality features. Vista is a perfect example of this. So in the 360. As a console on paper the 360 has it all, HD, Xbox Live, downloadable content, many games, all of that is great until it RROD on you...multiple times.
A mac fanatic I am far from. I have been reading Paul's site for a long time because I have worked so much with Windows over the years. Yes I prefer Mac products at home, as I think that Apple is way more consumer oriented and not focussed on market domination.
As far as software piracy in India. Honestly how many articles do I have to read that state that China and India are at 70-90% piracy rate, compared to 35% world wide and 25% in the US. You are right its NOT 99% like I exaggerated......I would think you would get the exaggeration?????
A quick google of "software piracy in India" gave me many links......here are a few that speak to the India and China being the software piracy kings of the world...oh and I linked them specifically because they were written by your countrymen so the truth would not offend you coming from them.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/03/30/stories/2006033003470400.htmhttp://www.financialexpress.com/old/fe_full_story.php?content_id=98672

"They focus on a product having many lackluster, buggy features over a fewer high quality features. Vista is a perfect example of this."
I love it when mac fanatics say stuff like this but never back it up with examples. ;)

Ok Vista added DVD maker to go along with its Movie maker....have you tried using it? I have its a great way to make a coasters. Compared to iMovie/iDVD that came with my Mac its a joke.
Vista's new Movie Maker 6...would not see my Sony hard drive cam corder and download video off of it, like Windows Movie Maker 2, could with my Sony digital 8mm camcorder. iMovie pulls video off of both camcorders perfectly fine......as in "it just works".
UAC, while its intent is good, compared to the same basic thing in OS X or say Ubuntu...its a nightmare of compatibility problems and a click fest.
Vista search, compared to spotlight, I have used both and I can say that spotlight is better.
Basic network file copy in Vista the reason I sold my new HP notebook and bought a Macbook last year.
Battery life on a Vista notebook compared to Leopard....sweet baby Jesus its night and day.
Vista boot times. Vista search index always running. Vista's basic requirement for 2gig's of RAM min.
I could go on if you would like?
Great features on paper I am sure. Put Joe User down in front of a Vista PC or a Leopard PC and do the things I have listed above and I feel confident that Joe will like the Leopard better.

Hey Paul,
I got something for ya.
(Scene opens on a black page with three guys standing infront of a white background. The usual P.C. guy is standing in his suit. The Mac guy is standing in his hoodie, t-shirt, and jeans. To the very left is a guy, with a Tux the Penguin t-shirt, jeans, a lighter hoodie, and his notebook.)
Mac: Hello, I'm a Mac.
PC: And I'm a P.C.... who are you?
Linux: I'm Linux. I'm having a hard time installing on this notebook.
PC: Really, we'll Windows Vista just got Service Pack one and already the press is finally saying some nice things about me.
Mac: Well thats great P.C. I also have some good news. Sales of Mac's are picking up.
PC: (Looking worried.) Really... and how much of the market place do you have?
Mac: 2.87% World Wide. But we're up to 6 % in the United States....(Cut off)
PC: (Bust out laughing....) 2 percent world wide? OH MY GOD!!! (Laughing so uncontrolably...)
Mac: PC I don't see what so funny.....
PC: (Laughing hysterically) 2%.... Do you, Do you know how many percentage points I"m up to? (Still laughing and chuckling...)
Mac: How much PC?
PC: 96%!!! Yes, in your face Mac! (Starts singing an interpolation of the Genesis does song.) Vista does! You can't out sells us with Macbooks! Vista does, Vista does, XP does, XP does!
Mac: Okay, PC you got me. You're way more popular than me.
PC: Its about time you admitted it. But don't feel bad. At least you have the best media player on the market.
Mac: Thanks, PC. Thats sweet of you. Say Linux, how much market share do you have?
Linux: Less than 1 percent. There are so many different copies of me and many PC manufactuers won't take a gamble on me. So we're forced to give away our copies. We also have a problem with notebooks.
PC: Well, just remember Mac, you're still doing way better than that guy...
(Screen flashes to logo.)
Microsoft. Your Passion, Our Potential.
Paul.... Thanks for sheading some light on the real story. Even with Mac's resurgence, they are still light years away from catching up. Linux isn't even close. For those who said on this blog that the 96 percent is a "snapshot", lets look at the bigger picture.
Since 1993, Microsoft has held the number one spot of leading market operating system. That "snapshot" has lasted for 15 YEARS! Now with Vista SP 1 fixing most of not all of the nagging issues with Vista, we'll start to see the mass adoption of Vista. Windows Seven is taking all the growing pains in Vista and taking a much smarter road. Smaller core equal less bloat. Hopefully, this approach will be applied other parts of Microsoft.
Maybe one day, someday in the future, Microsoft will eventually fall to the number 2 spot. But even with Intel Macs, Leopard, and Macbooks, they are still stuck in 2nd place. If you dive in deeper into the market share that Apple has world wide of about 7 percent of marketshare. If you break it down, 4.39 percent are using Macs with Intels. 3.07% of Mac users are holding on to the non-intel based Macs. That means approximately 40 percent of Mac users aren't adopting the new Apple machines. Even with Mac's growth, there is resistance to the Intel move. Not everything is sunshine and roses in the Mac's World.
As business begins the adoption in the next business cycle up to Vista and Server 2008, we'll see the mass migration of business machines to multicore computers with Vista SP1. The mass adoption will hit home as home users will update to keep pace with their business machines. Then we can all eagerly look foward to Windows Seven.
Snapshot in Time? You got to be freaking kidding me. 15 years and counting. Thats just pure domination. And Apple doesn't want the Microsoft monopoly? Look at what their doing with iTunes and iPod. Can we say digital monopoly?

Lindy:
Please do a little test for me: put up a bittorrent client on any of your machines (uTorrent or Azureus are fine) and load one of the popular (lots of peers and seeds) Windows Vista or Windows XP torrent out there (The Pirate Bay, BTMon will help you) and see where do most of the downloaders come from. In the Peer list I saw about 87% of the downloaders are from either the US or Canada (you can even see their IPs or hostnames from ISPs like Comcast or Rogers).
...and since you are there seek out the Leopard torrents as well. You will see that it is pirated like hell too. But that does not count in numbers, as statistics and market share information only count SOLD licenses, not pirate copies! If you add piracy rates to the actual market numbers MAC and Linux will fall to 0.01%, as every pirated copy of the OSX will have 1000 of Windows.
When viewed from a pirate's angle the real quality of each OS is revealed: if you look at the three platform as being free (for a pirate they are) they will still choose Windows by a very wide margin, as OSX is locked to a very expensive hardware platform (it is breakable, but does not worth the trouble) and Linux is hard to use for everyday work.
Do not forget that Microsoft Office (bloated or not) is still the most coveted piece of software (even on MACs). If I tried to move 100 word/excel users to OpenOffice in the next 6 month most of them would quit their jobs before accepting the alternative platform. That is MS quality.
Zsolt

Another note:
The remark about Linux eating Windows alive in the lower market segment was really funny. The Linux guys just don't get the fact that a copy of Linux installed on a new machine does not mean anyone is stealing money from MS. When an OEM sells a PC with Linux they are actually selling the hardware with a bigger profit (by putting any free OS on it), but in most cases those machines will end up with either pirated Windows copies or legal licenses with a delayed purchase.
Microsoft will rather not sell an OS with a very low end machine then to cut Windows prices and cannibalize their existing market revenue.
A cheap Dell/Acer (or whatever) notebook/system with Linux preinstalled, sold to a student or an IT worker will get a Windows license through academic or corporate licensing agreements. Even government institutions get better deals by buying very low cost hardware and then negotiating a MS Open Licensing contract.
OSX cutting in Windows market share on high end notebooks? Maybe... How many MAC users put XP/Vista on MacBooks and MacBook Pros? Even Apple commercials state that the MACs are actually the best Windows laptops out there.

kadarzsoft
I will pass on the torrent/pirate bay experience. I am sure your scientific theory is more accurate than the dozen links to articles I saw about software piracy.
A woman in my same department at work went to China last year to visit her daughter. Before she left she asked people what software they wanted, and she would get it for them, and they could pay her back. Her daughter told her for the cost of a CD or DVD in China no less, any software you wanted could be purchased at a store on the street. That is the kind of piracy I am talking about, which does not exist in the US, or if it does its not in the open like in China.
I have no doubt that you can get anything you want via torrent, including Leopard, and from the US. Of course copies of Leopard like you said, probably go to only Mac users or those who want to hac it to work on a PC, way to much work for Joe User. Windows on the other hand can or at least can be attempted to be (Vista Ready) run on any PC hardware making it that much more of a pirate target.
Office is a very good product. I think 2007 adds alot of features that 2003 did not have, but its slower over all. 95% of Office users probably wont use most of the features but some will. I bet if you told those 100 people the could quit if they did not like Open Office and gave them some training they would use Open Office with out any fuss. You would not need much training since the current version of Open Office is almost a clone of Office 2000 or 2003. You of course would save 100 x whatever you paid for Office for those users.
Hopefully it was not $399 per copy :)

"Ok Vista added DVD maker to go along with its Movie maker....have you tried using it? I have its a great way to make a coasters. Compared to iMovie/iDVD that came with my Mac its a joke."
Yes, actually, I have used DVD Maker a number of times, and although it is missing some good features that iDVD has, it is still a good and easy to use program. iMovie? You've gotta be kidding ;)
"Vista's new Movie Maker 6...would not see my Sony hard drive cam corder and download video off of it, like Windows Movie Maker 2, could with my Sony digital 8mm camcorder. iMovie pulls video off of both camcorders perfectly fine......as in "it just works"."
More than likely a Sony issue than a Vista issue, I have a 4 year old Panasonic that I've used and it works just fine. The new movie maker is the first video editing software I've used that didn't make me pull my hair out! It was actually quite a pleasant experience (compared to older movie maker a Pinnacle Studios), but I'm guessing you haven't used it as much as me and are just assuming it's bad because you already hate Vista ;)
UAC, while its intent is good, compared to the same basic thing in OS X or say Ubuntu...its a nightmare of compatibility problems and a click fest.
One easy way to tell if someone is a valid Vista user! I swear, every time I hear a mac fanatic compare Vista's UAC to Mac's please-enter-password marathon I can't help but laugh! I mean, why the heck do I have to type my password to put a file I just created in the trash bin on a computer where I'm administrator? Vista has nothing like this, it prompts me only when I get into system configurations or installing new applications. Please!
"Vista search, compared to spotlight, I have used both and I can say that spotlight is better."
Let me guess? You used it on a 5 year old low end Sony or HP laptop against a new Mac Pro or Macbook Pro? I have used both too (and Quick Silver) and WDS is faster, more relevant, has fewer keystrokes/mouse clicks and is easier to use. It also searches more places than Spotlight ;)
"Basic network file copy in Vista the reason I sold my new HP notebook and bought a Macbook last year."
Your first mistake was buying an HP laptop... your second was buying the mac ;)
"Battery life on a Vista notebook compared to Leopard....sweet baby Jesus its night and day."
Have you heard of power saver mode?
"Vista boot times. "
My 1.9ghz Core Duo (not even Core 2) with 2GB of ram boots in 22 seconds flat. My Mac Pro has two (yes, two!) 2.66 Core 2! Duo's and takes about 55 seconds.
"Vista search index always running."
That's just untrue... it runs when you are idle
"Vista's basic requirement for 2gig's of RAM min."
Check your stats again, it requires 512MB. Premiums versions require 1. I'm running 2 (double) and it runs faster than my XP machine that has four times the min requirements for XP.
"I could go on if you would like?"
How about..... getting your facts straight and actually using Vista.... and run it on a decent piece of hardware. Heck, your mac will do just fine! Just stay away from HP laptops and Sony.... anything.... and you'll be fine. I am personally running Vista on a Toshiba Satellite series and prefer it over my Mac Pro with the two 2.66ghz and 5 (soon to be 7) GB of ram.
"Great features on paper I am sure. Put Joe User down in front of a Vista PC or a Leopard"
What you may not realize is how many people have actually used Macs (and I do mean in the last 5 years) and can't stand them.

Pay for support when using an enterprise grade Linux environment (Red Hat or Suse), give money for training on those "free office apps" and count the degrading user productivity and already you are way over the MS licensing costs.
Piracy in China: you cannot sell $90 OS and $199 Office to a customer who does not earn that much in 4 month. The US (and MS) still takes hundreds of millions of dollars from China on the account of software licenses. That is the real success (for your economy, not my country's). Even a small city state or pacific island pays several millions of dollars to the US thanks to the MS domination.
One more comparison to (try to) end this debate: The local IT store I work with sells more copies of Windows in 3 days than the number of downloads from the Ubuntu ftp server in the country in a YEAR. And I am in Romania, where the piracy is said to be above slightly over 70% (and I also live in the 6th largest city). Linux desktop sales are about 40% of the market (cheap hardware), but as I said earlier, the majority of those systems end up with Windows OS sooner or later through academic/corporate licensing.

"One easy way to tell if someone is a valid Vista user! I swear, every time I hear a mac fanatic compare Vista's UAC to Mac's please-enter-password marathon I can't help but laugh! I mean, why the heck do I have to type my password to put a file I just created in the trash bin on a computer where I'm administrator? Vista has nothing like this, it prompts me only when I get into system configurations or installing new applications. Please!"
Trust me I used Vista, from Beta 2 to August of 2007. Both at work and at home. The HP notbook was brand new as of 2007, and the first thing I did was wipe it clean killing all of the HP and pre-installed craplets. It had a 2.0 core duo and 2gigs of ram. Vista actually ran ok after tweaking it and several "performance updates" but I needed XP file copy speed for my job at the time and it was not there.
HP notebooks, with a formated drive are the same Intel CPU/Graphics/chipset that is in a Dell, Toshiba, Apple or Lenova notebook, so I am not buying your "dont buy an HP" that is just plain wrong. Same basic hardware, just different plastic. I got it work as best as it could at the time and performance issues have everything to do with Vista, and nothing to do with HP. It ended up running XP like a champ.
I used Movie Maker 2 for a very long time, not a bad at all for coming with the OS for free. That and Sonic MyDVD were great together. My new Sony Camera did not work with Vista because at the time Vista did not natively support hard drive based cam corders August of 2007. Sony came out with a piece of software that would pull the video off of it then you could use Movie Maker Six. So extra software so it could work. That software would only work with Vista 32bit and at the time I had Vista 64bit.
UAC pops up about 50X more times that anything in OS X or Ubuntu. It does not ask you for a password, unless your account does not have admin rights and then it does. You can also set UAC via a GPO to prompt you for a password always, which is what some corporations are doing because its recommended by MS. So I know UAC, because I used Vista. At home I installed "Tweak UAC" so that it still added protection but bugged me way less.

"iMovie? You've gotta be kidding"
let's not forget the disaster that is the newest version! ;)
"My new Sony Camera did not work with Vista because at the time Vista did not natively support hard drive based cam corders August of 2007"
Vista doesn't natively support any camcorder that doesn't use common tape formats, since other storage methods (i.e. hard drive or DVD) don't use DV format for recording. Windows Vista only supports DV MPEG-2 import via the MSDV/1394 or UVC/USB class drivers.
"It does not ask you for a password, unless your account does not have admin rights and then it does."
That's a complete lie! I pointed this out to a smarmy Bestbuy Mackie sales guy one day by creating an admin-level user account on a demo system, and it still popped up asking for a password for privilege escalation. He was speechless after that. Unfortunately you still aren't.

I am not so sure what recreational drug some people are using but, if you think that Apple is not selling any Macs or people are not using them take a look around a college lecture theatre or a major airport.
http://losingcontext.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/look-at-them-apples.jpg
About 60% of computers go to Enterprise and other than the guy who approves the order no one who uses them has a say in what computer ends up on their desk. Change comes to Enterprise very slowly. It is like an oil tanker turning and if it ever turns away from Windows, Microsoft is in big trouble.
Microsoft also uses some pretty creative accounting. Under Microsoft licensing a school in the UK that has 50 Macs and 50 Windows computers has to pay Microsoft for using 100 computers. Great for M$ stats and profits but it does give a false result. This conduct has been referred to the Office of Fair Trading here and schools have been advised not to take out any further contracts with Microsoft until the policy is changed either by Microsoft or the courts.
We have an occasional use for Windows here in the house too. One of my daughter's needs to use Microsoft Publisher for a course at school and I need to use it occasionally to evaluate Windows Applications. That hardly makes us a "Windows" household.
@Lindy I think there are a few Canadians here too.
@Waethorn I am not so sure that the WalMart test proves anything. It may have to do with: the demographic that shops at WalMart, the lack of knowledge of the staff concerning Linux, the fact that Linux computers would do nothing to move all that costly software on the shelves beside them and finally WalMart chose a relatively unkown Linux distro for these computers.
@subzerohitman721 Problems with Linux notebooks, do you mean that they are selling faster than they can produce them.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/06/opensource.olpc
Giving away Linux software????? You obviously don't understand the principles behind Free and Open Software (FOSS). Enlighten yourself.
http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm
I am writing now on my 2.0 Ghz 2001 Quicksilver. Am I resistant to Intel Macs? Not in the slightest, it just is that the Quicksilver does what I need it to do and it runs Leopard fine. Try running Vista on one of your beige boxes built in 2001. ROTFLMBO
A little lesson for the simple minded. Jaguar, Panther, Tiger and Leopard are different versions of the Macintosh Operating System known as OS X. Your system is known as Windows and you have several different versions of it ME, 2000, XP and Vista (aka ME2). Our minor upgrades and bug fixes are free and known as 10.4.2 or 10.5.2 and so on. Yours are known as SP1 and SP2 and seem to be on the same time frame as the Parousia.

"I am not so sure that the WalMart test proves anything"
It proves exactly what I said it does:
That this: "they do seem to be making strong inroads with the low-cost laptop market." - isn't true.
Walmart is the be-all and end-all of low-cost consumer crap being brought to the masses. The Everex gPC is considered a failure after Walmart is experiencing a massive return rate. To put it in perspective, it's more than the suspected XBOX 360 failure rate (which is more than the actual amount, mind you). Walmart considered it an "experiment", and has no plans to bring out another Linux-based PC in the future. If Walmart can't successfully bring Linux to the masses, then there is no hope for it.
....and let's not go into the whole Eee PC thing. If you wanna see Eee PC sales explode, just wait until they release it with XP. Right now, many reviewers are complaining about the lack of features and uselessness of the Linux model.

Waethorn..."That's a complete lie! I pointed this out to a smarmy Bestbuy Mackie sales guy one day by creating an admin-level user account on a demo system, and it still popped up asking for a password for privilege escalation. He was speechless after that. Unfortunately you still aren't."
I just created a two extra accounts on my Vista Business VM, one with administrator rights the other as a standard user. I logged in as each and started to do something that forces UAC..."create a new user". While logged in as a the test user with admin rights I only got a prompt for UAC that I clicked through. While logged in as a standard user UAC threw a prompt that gave me a list of admin users and wanted a password before it would continue. This is just as I stated above if you are not an admin user you will get prompted for a password.
http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/01/25/access...
You can change via GPO this behavior for Admin users as well. In Vista go to run or start search, type in gpedit.msc, ok through UAC, computer configuration, windows settings, security settings, local policies, security options, and near the bottom is "User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode", you have three options one is to "provide credentials".
So I guess I am not "lying". You are a very good student of Paul's using the "lying" tatic. You need to be a better student of the way Microsoft products work as a fangirl I would think you would know this.
I would recomend, http://www.amazon.com/MCTS-Self-Paced-Training-Exam-70-620/dp/0735623902...
Take the certification test, impress your family and friends.

There are a few inaccuracies stated above when refuting the competing products. The average home user probably doesn't notice much difference between new computers. I used an old 1999 G4 with a CPU upgrade to wait for the Intel machines and sales show expansion, rather than avoidance. Some of us use older machines [in my basement while I'm lifting weights] and do not upgrade as they do not need to upgrade the computer or the OS. It is unfortunate that many Windows users will replace perfectly working hardware because they are not smart enough to reinstall XP when it becomes dog slow because of malware or viruses [from stupid web habits and DL's]. I have seen it in so many friends and coworkers. I encourage them to buy the OS reinstall CD or DVD when it is not included with the PC, but they also are too timid to try it to fix their issues. On the other OS, Mac, most of my friends and coworkers just use the shipped OS and just don't upgrade. I was shocked that so many don't even update software. These are average users all over. I have found the latest iMovie to work great, but have found Vista to work great on my Mac Pro Tower as well as a 3 yr old custom box and a new Dell Dimension 410. Office for Windows and Mac is still our choice and I got 2004 and 2008 upgrade for $29 due to a MS rebate and upgrade program. 2007 Windows version works great on XP and Vista. All in all, most of your comments about an OS being better or worse are full of crap [inaccuracies]...most of you. Many of the complaints that you post are not correct.
I come here for news on both OS'es. Paul gives great info on all products, and it is usually better than most sites that I know of or find by surfing. I even named a goldfish after him [it's a Sarasa Comet, and is kinda chubby].

@DRWAM
Interesting that Apple sold two million Leopard 10.5 upgrades in the first weekend and Mac users are known to upgrade their SW pretty regularly. See the link below and the stats from Steve Job's Keynote in Jan 08. A lot more so than Windows Users I think we must conclude that you the Mac Users you know are a pretty eccentric bunch.
http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp4/zdpub.vo.llnwd.net/o2/crankygeek...
I do agree that Paul gives very good honest reviews but sometimes (as here) the Windows fanboy comes out
Your point about the Hardware though is absolutely spot on. I have just ordered a Mac Pro Tower to replace my 2001 Quicksilver because I need to run both XP and Ubuntu natively. The G4 is being turned into a Home Server.
@ Waethorn What an absolute load of tosh and piffle. Linux is not breaking the Everex boxes and WalMart is continuing to sell them on-line. As far as the Asus EeePC goes the CEO expects the breakdown to be 60/40 XP/Linux but don't forget that the Windows model comes with a larger hard drive and screen. There will be a new Linux model with a larger HD later this year. The reviews have been nothing short of super - from Ars Technica
'The Asus Eee PC offers outstanding value for Linux enthusiasts and good value for a mainstream audience. The laptop brazenly defies the conventional standards of portable computing and delivers extreme mobility at an appealing price.'
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/eee-pc-review.ars
@Isproc My comment referred to the computer not the case. :-))

Avro/halesgarcia,
Great posts. I've had countless email conversations with Paul about his analysis-free obsession with worldwide marketshare. His response is always the same: "I just like marketshare and I like hard numbers". Great.... why? No answer.
This is a losing battle with Paul. For whatever reason, he has ZERO interest in actual thought and analysis of the data points. He's just got this rain-man like obsession with worldwide marketshare because it's in his view the most accurate number.
I agree that linux isn't making "strong in-roads" into any market I can see outside of servers. This is Paul's main point in the text of his comment and so it's pretty fair, but the his whole fixation of global share as god is ridiculous and a clear bias on his part. Linux is pretty damn devoid of any user-centric or UI innovation. It's just copy-cat central (or I guess, de-central).
Marketshare debates are only relevant when you narrow the context to particular groups for which the "network effects" apply. We're clearly seeing that, with the move to web-apps, there is less and less of a network effect in place between enterprise/business computers and home consumer purchases. Apple's consumer marketshare is probably closer to it's retail share than it's worldwide share. People no longer feel as strongly that "I have a PC at work... I should have one at home too".
Why does this matter? Because if you're a consumer, you care about different things than a business user (beyond internet access and office). On the flip side, software developers don't care about the overall share. They care about the share in the section of the market that would be interested in their product.
So, for example, Adobe doesn't care about Apple's 2% worldwide share since Apple has easily over 30% of the total content creation market (and as high as 80% is some segments).
Most interestingly, Microsoft's Office sales marketshare apparently shows that Mac Office makes up to 20% of their revenue for all office sales. That alone says that the Mac market is far more viable for users and valuable for developers than Paul's graph suggests.
Again, how many "point of sale" PC's are included in the worldwide share numbers? How many corporate drone PC's that will never run anything other than Office? How many are sold into vertical markets that use them for single-purpose functions (medicine, robotics, manufacturing)? Tally up all those numbers and exclude them for the discussion of the Mac for normal home users. Those sales are irrelevant to the home user who wants to browse the internet, chat, manage their home media and maybe play a game or two.
What's most interesting about the latest NPD numbers at retail is that the revenue growth numbers. Apple's share of revenue is way higher then they're share of retail units. Conversely, the PC market's unit growth is higher than it's revenue growth.
This all means that Apple's managing to be a more successful computer business with better long-term financials than the PC market which is on a margin-slicing spiral to commodity status. Commodity margins leave little room for R&D and innovation, which makes the PC market's structure so unfortunate. All of the margin in consolidated in Microsoft and Intel's pockets (more in MS). So every PC maker is basically stuck waiting on these two companies to do ALL the innovation for them since they can't afford it. This makes the PC market pretty comparable to the Mac market, accept the quality and reliability is inferior and the user satisfaction is dramatically lower (all facts backed up by Consumer Reports and PC Magazine year after year).
So Paul can drone on about world-wide share all he wants. Anyone with half a brain and half an hour can discover how pointless it is as a metric of anything.
Here's some info that have more impact on people and the computer business than Paul's hobby horse stats:
Apple has out-lived IBM as a computer maker.
Apple's revenue was just under half of Microsoft's revenue in 2007 (24 billion vs 51.1billion), despite having just under 3% of the worldwide PC share to Microsoft's 96%.
Apple's net income (profit) was 3.5 billion compared to Dell's 2.95 Billion in 2007.

@Lindy
my bad. i thought you said OS X doesn't prompt for a password unless your account doesn't have admin rights. in actuality, OS X prompts for a password EVERY TIME (even when you ARE an admin). that was my point.
"WalMart is continuing to sell them on-line"
ONLY online, and then only until their current stock dries up. they are discontinued in stores - where the vast majority of Walmart shoppers shop.
"Microsoft's Office sales marketshare apparently shows that Mac Office makes up to 20% of their revenue for all office sales. That alone says that the Mac market is far more viable for users and valuable for developers than Paul's graph suggests."
No - it just proves the point that Apple should be selling OEM versions to customers instead.
"How many are sold into vertical markets that use them for single-purpose functions (medicine...."
funny you should ask that question....DRWAM, pay attention:
have you ever read the Apple terms of use?
"THE APPLE SOFTWARE IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR
FACILITIES, AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION OR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS, LIFE SUPPORT MACHINES OR OTHER EQUIPMENT IN WHICH THE FAILURE OF THE APPLE SOFTWARE COULD LEAD TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE"
So what happens if you have one of those data corruption bugs from the Leopard upgrade that corrupts patient data in a healthcare workspace, resulting in mixed up drug prescriptions, or incorrect surgical procedures? ;)
I like that last part too - if the Apple software fails, it could result in, among other things, "severe environmental damage"....so when a Mac that's incapable of running the latest, *SUPPORTED* OS because the previous software is no longer acceptable, and the system is therefore nothing but a mess of non-recyclable shiny plastic and various toxic substances in a landfill, I guess you just never had the right to use it in the first place! :D

Waethorn,
More cherry picking and weird FUD, I see.
#1. How does Mac Office being 20% of overall Office sales NOT prove that there's tons of money to be made in developing Mac software? It's sure making Microsoft a mint. How does it somehow "just prove" that Apple should give up their inherent value proposition so that OEM's can ruin their superior service and support record with PC-style finger pointing on support issues? I don't see any logic in your one-liner.
#2. You really don't want to play the EULA game. This is pure FUD for purposes I can't understand aside from broad-sided Apple bashing. What is your point exactly? That Apple machines aren't certified as life support systems? Ok. I don't think the average Macbook or iMac buyer cares. I'm not sure how many consumers are looking for a nuclear weapons guidance system either. In fact, this was my whole point. There's a ton of PCs sold into vertical niches where the box runs one in-house, custom application and isn't available to the third party software market. These systems don't count as relevant in the market share debate.... unless you want to argue that it's a lucrative business. But Apple is clearly making plenty of money (more than Dell in fact) with their current products and strategy.
#3. Since Apple computers get much better resale and have far better long-term reliability, they're inherently less likely to end up in a landfill than the $399 plastic garbage pedaled by PC vendors. My family has there fully working Macs over 7 years old still in use running Tiger. I've sold every Mac on ebay at a great price before each upgrade (recently sold a 400mhz G4 system for $300 that I had bought on eBay for $400 two years ago). Plus, Apple's early move away from CRTs was dramatically better for the environment.
I would like nothing more than to have an honest and lively debate, my friend. But you don't seek to engage or understand. This is just fun geek mental exercise for me, and it'd be more fun if there was genuine discussion. Instead, you make if more like two people in bunkers lobbing grenades at each other. LAME.

Waethorn, I have recently [within the past couple of weeks] posted in other topics here that Macs, are insignificant or irrelevant in medicine. All hardware and software used must be FDA approved, or at least used to be. That is why all the companies that previously used Macs, that I know of, no longer sell them and certainly why the above disclaimer applies. A funny story is that Toshiba Nuclear was bragging that they offered a 300MHz G3 with their gamma camera [bone scans, Nuclear cardiac, etc...] when they discontinued them two years prior, and moved on to the G4 line. When asked why not a G4, I was told of the FDA approval need and that keeping up with constant hardware changes at Apple was difficult, and that they were about to abandon the Mac. And they did. GE as of two years ago, claimed that they could only sell smaller hard drives in PACS as the larger ones were not FDA. there are so many great Windows based medical software products that it is mind boggling. however, the Windows medical cluod typically allows Macs to join in. We use a lot of Windows servers [we even have a 2000 server because of very old Medical Manager software for transcription] as well as MS JAVA based although some Citrix exists too. the cloud allows us to get secured patient data, lab studies, charts and diagnostic imaging. Backup systems and data lines keep us well connected. It's pretty convenient. Exchange keeps us connected as well.

DRWAM,
Macs vs. PC silliness aside... That's very interesting. It looks like, surprise surprise, our government regulators are operating at a snail's pace and keeping technological progress held back. This is very upsetting to hear (not about Mac in medicine, because who cares so long as it works).
I recently met a medical tech consultant in an airport who was carrying around two Dell laptops. One was his company laptop and the other was a client laptop that he had to bring because they wouldn't let him access their stuff on any other machine. He saw my macbook pro and asked how I liked it. I raved a little bit and then he explained that he was switching his business to macs because of the additional support costs of Vista and that it's a move he's hearing many companies in his network considering.
So I asked him about the healthcare cost situation and where tech could play a role. He gave one example of where we're getting screwed that really stuck out which reminds me of your FDA issues.
He explained that we use this ICD-9 coding system for billing that is totally of date and causes countless problems with diagnosis and reimbursement because it's 30 years old and lacks codes for so many issues.
Meanwhile, apparently, the rest of the world is on ICD-10 which is the update from the '90s and makes things dramatically clearer. So why is our country still running medical billing on a coding system from the Carter administration? He said because Medicare and Medicaid are still on this old system and nobody wants to maintain two billing systems.
Great. So people get their claims rejected by insurance companies because of an out-dated system that's ripe for abuse thanks to the glacial pace of our government insurance.
How does this come back to this thread? Well, I guess because it's a lesson about the problems with being a consumer innovator like Apple and wanting to do business with governments and enterprises. Their pace and IT requirements make innovation basically impossible. And since they're looking for the cheapest box they can buy, they aren't very profitable businesses to sell hardware into, hence the new focus on the consumer by Dell and HP.
I could imagine linux making serious inroads into some of these vertical markets since they're strictly using the OS as a platform for one or two applications. Kiosk-style systems would probably serve many of these markets better, though what the hell do I know.

John, good points. Insurance agencies jump on the ICD problem to take advantage and denied payment. An example is DXA scan, for osteoporosis. The code was changed and reimbursement took a sharp decline, below cost, done by the CMS [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services]. Third party payers/ insurance companies have contracts with us based on these codes and started denying payment, even though it was previously negotiated for a price under a different code. The exam stayed the same, but the code was changed. that's all, and they are still trying to screw us. The CMS just dropped reimbursement for PET/CT scans for body imaging [for cancer]. A study that takes up to 40 minutes, covers the entire body and has over 1,100 images. However, they INCREASED the reimbursement for cardiac PET, which covers only the heart using the same scanner and technique, takes about 15 minutes, and has about 50 to 150 images to interpret. It now gets more money than body PET, This is not a unique reimbursement problem. WTF are they thinking? This and malpractice issues have forced many imaging centers and doctors out of business or to relocate to places that are more doctor and less lawyer friendly. The trial liars, I mean lawyers lie to the public stating that tort reform does not help, but it is all BS. Now, there are many counties [not cities, buut counties] with neurosurgeons and OB docs. Between lawyers and insurance companies,medicine is going down the toilet. Insurance profits are sky high, but yet they keep trying to decrease reimbursement to make more money, not lower cost of health coverage. And denying services is a game that they win, since it becomes too costly to keep pursuing denied claims. A big game is to per-certify a study, like an MRI, then deny payment. They have a disclaimer on the form that pre-certification does not insure payment. Then why the hell are they pre-certifying it? I could go on, but I am wasting everybody's blog, so sorry. I am just thankful that my Mac allows me to access the medical cloud. I still need windows to look at images. It is browser based and will not work on a Mac. Bummer.

" I don't see any logic in your one-liner."
Obviously.
My point is that Apple is an OEM. They should sell Office 2008 as an OEM version. OEM versions are preinstalled and supported by the OEM itself, not the software publisher. Without software publisher support, OEM versions of software cost far less than retail versions, and Microsoft offered it to Apple that way, but they flat-out refused to sell it that way, even though it's the highest selling OS X application on the planet. They'd rather gouge customers by selling only retail versions. Remember that it's not just Microsoft's software, but the markup on a higher price = higher profit for the reseller too. Too bad - it's also one of the most telling reasons why cost-conscious customers won't by a Mac.
"But Apple is clearly making plenty of money (more than Dell in fact) with their current products and strategy."
Ya, by gouging customers. I refer you to my previous statement.
"Since Apple computers get much better resale and have far better long-term reliability"
Please provide proof. Last time I checked, there's only 4 major notebook makers on the planet - Quanta, Clevo, Compal, and ASmobile, of which no less than 2 of them have previously built laptops for Dell, HP, Lenovo, as well as your precious Apple, not to mention *ME*. Yes, I sell systems made by the same ODM as all the other big name brands. So I guess I can claim that systems I sell are at least as reliable as any major brand name (I don't though - I've seen too many name brands, INCLUDING Mac's, fail before 3 years are up, that I include a 3-year warranty in every system I sell).
"Exchange keeps us connected as well."
Please tell me you're not using Blackberry's....What a waste of money! Not only does it go through an unreliable central NOC, but you also have to pay for Blackberry Enterprise Server, JUST to connect Exchange with the devices. Windows Mobile devices are the easiest devices to configure on a properly-configured domain - just buy them for each user and get them to cable-sync them once to their workstation. Done, and done. Additional configuration can be controlled via Group Policy in AD by your IT staff. Windows Mobile - for when "Direct Push" means "*DIRECT* Push" (TM).
"Apple's early move away from CRTs was dramatically better for the environment."
Sorry, but that's completely wrong! Just ask Greenpeace about that - Apple's contracted factories have been judged as some of the worst for the environment....and let's not get into the whole disposable iPod thing....

Lindy, I think you are making everything up! One day while working with OS X 10.4 a few weeks ago I swear I typed my password in more times that day than I ever have in Vista since I started using it in February (since July everyday). I am an Admin on both the macs I use, how do you explain this?

@Waethorn
A few points:
Paul's reviews of Office 2008 for the Mac both on the website and podcast were decidedly lukewarm. He pointed out in the podcast that there were cheaper competing products that were better. Most Mac Users would be getting the Home and Student edition which retails for about £89 here and gives you a licence for 3 computers in the house. Because we use Microsoft products at work I can get a single user licence for £17.
iWork from Apple costs £50 for a five licences and IMHO the suite of Pages, Keynote and Numbers is better than MS Office.
http://www.apple.com/iwork/
Not everyone likes MS Office nor would wish to have it on the hard drive. Many consider it bloated and buggy.
http://reviews.cnet.com/office-suites/microsoft-office-for-mac/4852-3524...http://stevenpoole.net/blog/goodbye-cruel-word/
Many Mac power users prefer the elegant Scrivener which we can get for about £18 and Nisus Writer Pro has a big following too.
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.htmlhttp://www.nisus.com/pro/
I use Scrivener and Nisus Writer Pro for most of my work and Keynote for presentations. My secretary uses MS Office.

Nope, we don't use it for mobile, just standard office email, but we have many offices and 300 employees. Schedules for edifferent procedures can be a pain, but the schedulers know where we arethrough the calenders, and keep us informed. I have a 2 yr old Treo, but do not use it for any web service. I have computers around me all day, so no mobile is needed. BTW GE seems to have abandoned it's pursuit of Linux run hardware, but I have not checked out their latest Advantage Workstation. The older product used Red Hat. The newer doesn't show what it runs, but claims it is 64 bit, so is it a good assumption that it is XP and Vista?

DRWAM,
Reading your post makes my blood boil. I come from a family of
doctors and I just can't stand what's happening in to medicine. Now
we get to look forward to the potential of MORE government
intervention in the system by people like John "Junk Science"
Edwards. God help us all is all I can say.
Waethorn,
I didn't understand the OEM comment. I can see your point, if it
turns out that the average selling price of Mac Office is higher than
Windows. I understand why they don't pull the usual OEM routine, though... because it sucks. Having to call an OEM for support in the PC world, as Paul pointed out in his podcast this week, is basically opening a door to a world of finger-pointing, excuses and ultimately horrible service.
Apple, in general, operates on the idea that they either have full control and take full responsibility for the user experience, or they leave that to the third party, who presumably knows their product best.
I'm not saying this is the only way to go. The Windows ecosystem is massive and complex and can't possibly be served by Apple's model exclusively. But, as with all things Apple, they do it the way they feel delivers the best user experience and if you care about that, you appreciate their approach.
I concede that the OEM pricing approach could be helpful to consumers, but I think as Avro points out, many people would be better served by lesser office suites like iWork or Nisus writer and OEM price dumping harms that market. I imagine Apple doesn't want to assist Microsoft in it's monopoly maintenance of Office in that way. OEM pricing is largely a scam built on the idea of subsidizing PC makers to help them move boxes in exchange for keeping Office's monopoly through price dumping with the added bonus of offloading support responsibility to OEM's and their out-sourced trash support. Yet despite all that, Office still makes a large portion of Microsoft's enormous profits.
And regardless, according to the Software and Information Industry Association, "Macintosh software comprises over 18% of all software sold" while the Software Publishing Association estimates that 16% of computer users are on Macs." And that was in 2005, before the last two years of Apple's growth pace at over 3 times the industry. These are unit sales figures and correlates to Microsoft's numbers remarkably close. I bet you're right that Office sales unit share for the mac is lower than 20%... but it isn't 3%. The same 2005 surveys showed that 10% of small business run on Macs in the US.
The key point: Paul's graph and constant exclusive focus on worldwide share is misleading to the point of dishonesty coming from someone capable of more complex analysis.
As for your "gouging" swipe, it's not fair or based in fact. Apple's machines are priced competitively with similarly configured major brand PCs. The reason Apple makes more money per machine is that they get to keep the profit from the OS cost while Dell and the rest have to send that off to Microsoft in the form of licensing fees. Try and find a machine comparable to the Mac mini in features and form factor for the same price. Just try. Beat the macbook or iMac with comparably equipped and designed PCs from a major vendor. Go ahead. I dare you. That Dell XPS One isn't cheaper than the iMac even though it's specs are inferior. (And jesus does Dell make finding or buying anything on their site painful)
And I'm amazed people like yourself don't feel the blatant of hypocrisy talking about Apple price gouging when Microsoft is making 80% profit margins on Windows and Office and increasing their prices over time (which is the opposite direction of an actual competitive free market).
Think about this. Microsoft's overall net profit margin is over 27% while Dell's is under 5%, HP's is 7%... even Intel's is 18% and they only have one main competitor.
So don't even try and call Apple out on "gouging" with a 14.5% net margin given that they make the hardware and OS. Microsoft is leveraging their monopoly to deliver monopoly pricing. Apple is pricing their systems at levels that the market not only bears, but at levels that are being accepted happily with unit growth rates triple the PC industry. The whole notion of "gouging" isn't even reasonable economically with Apple since they have stiff competition (unless you have some out-dated socialist idea of "fair" pricing of course). Even the iPod, with it's 70% market share is far more competitively priced than Windows in it's market.
And no, the fact that your company can build a PC for less than a Mac isn't relevant. Apple's not a boutique with no R&D expenses and minimal staff. They're a huge company with massive capital expenses and R&D.

"Try and find a machine comparable to the Mac mini in features and form factor for the same price. Just try. Beat the macbook or iMac with comparably equipped and designed PCs from a major vendor"
I've done this over and over again enough times to prove that it's true.
I can do this any day of the week, sorry to say.
Let's play the "what do you get for x amount of $$?" shall we?
Ok right off the bat, Dell gives Apple the beat down with an Inspiron 1420:
Apple Macbook 13" 2.1GHz stock machine (base config): $1099.99
includes the following (get ready for the humour here):
2.1GHz Core 2 Duo (model please?)
1GB of DDR2 667
120GB SATA 5400RPM Hard Drive
Includes a combo drive (they stil make those :-P ), 1280x800 LCD, bluetooth, wireless, and not much else
Inspiron 1420 system for approx. same price:
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 (2.4Ghz Penryn)
3GB DDR2 667 RAM
320GB SATA 5400RPM Hard Drive
DVD Burner
Intel 4965AGN WiFi (makes laptop Centrino-compliant)
Bluetooth, webcam, glossy 1280x800 screen, in-home service
actual price: $1084
Now let's play everybody's favourite spinoff game: "So how much does Apple charge for that?"
Well considering that Apple has nothing even close, the "closest" I could get is to take the next model up - the mid-line Macbook @ 2.4GHz, and add a 250GB SATA 5400RPM Hard Drive. The only other difference between it and the 2.1Ghz is the CPU speed, a DVD Burner, and 2GB RAM total. Still no in-home service. You still only get 2GB, and not 3 (4GB on the Mac is hideously overpriced), and the hard drive options are inferior.
Apple charges $1399 for it.
So $300 more, and "Apple doesn't gouge customers" eh?
"So don't even try and call Apple out on "gouging" with a 14.5% net margin "
I'd like you to point out which orifice on your body you pulled that figure out of....
"Microsoft is making 80% profit margins on Windows and Office and increasing their prices over time "
....ditto on that one. Oh yes, I guess in your world where down means up, and black means white, and Windows Vista price cuts are selling for less than XP did when it was released (with or without inflation) means increasing prices.
"That Dell XPS One isn't cheaper than the iMac even though it's specs are inferior."
WRONG! The Dell XPS One uses desktop CPU's which already put it way above the iMac in performance. Apple doesn't use desktop CPU's. Period. So no consumer quad-core offerings until Intel brings out their quad-core mobile chips. That's just sad (funny-sad, considering it's Apple). I've been selling quad-core systems for a year now!

Waethorn, you truly are a spec-sheet spewing PC geek. Of course, you ignored my entire response and argument regarding the size of the Mac software market and how it utterly invalidates Paul's focus on worldwide marketshare. Of course you would... it's only the topic of his post.
Instead, you bather on about "desktop" vs. "mobile" processors and how the Dell One somehow outclasses the iMac...
Except there's this whole "facts" problem about the performance:
http://www.propeller.com/viewstory/2007/11/23/dell-xps-one-review-and-be...
"You know your performance is in trouble when your gaming scores are slower than a Mac's. But on every test, from music encoding to photo editing to multitasking, the XPS One falls behind the iMac that costs $750 less." - cnet.
So Apple's most popular desktop machine is cheaper and faster than the comparable Dell. I believe the same goes for the Gateway imac knock-off.
I will concede that your laptop pricing appears to spank the Macbook with that Dell model. Just a few questions on that system. Does it have DVI out or firewire? Can you take it up to 4GB of ram? What's the deal with the 3GB?
I just have to chalk up that price difference to a premium on Apple's part that you're paying for build quality and Dell's huge economies of scale from the enterprise buyers, but you beat me on that one fair and square.
You see, my friend? This is how intellectual honesty works. You address all the points and concede where you're proven wrong. So score one for you, two for me ;)

"Does it have DVI out or firewire?"
Not to my knowledge, no. Firewire isn't prevalent on PC's with eSATA becoming the norm for external drives, and USB2.0 on camcorders; and DVI isn't really either what with most projectors only supporting VGA (all monitors support VGA too). Standard video-out ports include separate SVideo, and VGA, allowing up to 3 simultaneous displays.
In contrast, how many USB ports does the Mac have? Does it support Expresscard? Does it have SPDIF out?
"Can you take it up to 4GB of ram?"
Yes.
"What's the deal with the 3GB?"
1x1GB stick, 1x2GB stick. Newer chipsets can run asynchronous dual-channel modes, so you don't have to match the memory sticks. On 32-bit Windows versions, you only see about 3 & 1/8's GB (3.125GB to be exact, because of the way memory addressing blocks work). On 64-bit versions you can see the full 4GB (more if the system supports it, but on mobile chipsets, that's not possible due to design restrictions on Intel's part - although you can do that with any recent desktop PC, NOT on a consumer Mac)
On a side note, your argument about R&D expense is hilarious. If you honestly expect me to believe that Apple has exorbitant R&D expenses over any other PC manufacturer, then you really need to have your head examined.
In case you're interested, I also have to do the typical research of finding parts that match, and having to assemble computers, just like Apple. The difference is, I don't ship in huge quantities, and likewise, I don't contract 3rd-world sweat shops for workers, so if you really think that I make a bigger profit margin then Apple, you've lost all of what minutely infinitesimal respect I have for you.
By comparison though, I offer much more honest pricing for systems.
Here's what I offer in place of that $1400 Mac (my prices are CDN$, mind you):
For the same price as a $1399 Macbook, I offer this:
Core 2 Duo T9300 (that's a 2.5GHz with 6MB Cache for the uninformed)
2GB DDR2-667 Dual-Channel RAM
250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with 8MB Cache
8x SATA DVDRW Dual-Layer Burner
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 Integrated Video
Widescreen WXGA 1280x800 Glossy LCD Display
Intel High Definition 2-Channel Audio with Digital SPDIF Output
4 USB 2.0 ports, 1 IEEE1394/Firewire ports, 1 ExpressCard 34/54 slot
1 VGA-Out port, 1 SVideo-Out port
2.0Megapixel integrated webcam
Multi-media card reader
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN Next-Gen Wireless-N
10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet, V.92 56Kbps Modem
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit
Windows Live OneCare 1-Year Subscription
Centrino-certified, WHQL-certified
Oh, and I don't charge anything for 3 years of phone/email/IM support, or parts & labour warranty....AND I'm local - I'm not in India, reading out of a tech-support flowchart book.

After reading some of the comments and decided to do some asking around. Find some knowledgeable persons to either justify or dismiss my comments.
Lets start with Linux article given. This theory of free and open source software. This online manifesto of source highlights why Windows and the average users will not migrate over to Linux. I will debunk this manifesto and prove its nothing but deception.
1. Linux is not Windows. These argument are completely ridiculous. Many of the changes in Windows happen in the API and kernel level. Just because they are not as visable as the Linux distros, doesn't mean they aren't signicant or experience altering. The idea that user experiences are the same from Windows to Windows is absolutely insane. There are college courses dedicated to the changes in Windows-related software and hardware. Thats why industry certified computer technicians have to certify on the specific OS each time a new one comes out. While NT3, NT4, 2000, and XP are based on the same code, the changes are like night and day. Second, Linux doesn't come with all the necessary drivers to run applications. No iTunes, no Microsoft Office, and most importantly No Blu-Ray. Sony and its Blu-Ray partners has no version of the desktop Blu-Ray writers or readers that support any distro of Linux. If you attempt to come up with your own version of Blu-Ray drivers, once it updates the player will not work. Part of their DRM system. You have to get Nero to get any support. It doesn't come natively. You can burn data to it but all those Blu-Ray DVD movies will not work. The latest drivers are only written for Windows Most of the latest software, hardware, and applications aren't even supported by the mainstream corporations. Why? Because these companies are not going to jeopardize their proprietary code and allow everyone access to their computers. Second, why make drivers for an OS that doesn't even have 1 percent of the market. In the real world, people want to get paid. The resources put into making a product for Linux doesn't equal the return on investment. Incase you guys don't get it, this is a capitalistic society we live in. Thats why its rare that PC games get ported over to Mac and even rarer that they get a genuine Linux port.
2. Linux is too different from Windows. The argument here is that Linux is too radical a change for Windows users. That the open source out of the box thinking makes it a better OS. Again. WRONG! Just check all of the security companies that rate Linux based OSes for security flaws, vunerabilities, and viruses. Yes, it does have vunerabilities. Its vunerable to viruses. They may not be as prevalent as say Windows Vista or XP, but they do exist. A statistical analysis of First Six Month High Vunerabilities which compared XP, Vista, OS-X 10.4, Red Hat Linux, Novell SUSE, and Ubuntu 6.06 showed that both Vista and XP had fewer vunerabilities in the first six months than their Linux or Apple counterparts. This was a joint venture by CSO and Microsoft. Also, just this year alone, according to secunia.com, there are 4 more security advisories for Ubuntu 7.04 than Windows Vista. Now if you compare Vista vs Ubuntu 7.04 security advisories, there are 125 security advisories for Ubuntu 7.04 vs only 25 for Vista. Because Vista is built on the Server 2003 code base, 80% of the issues suffered by Windows XP do not affect Vista. Also, the new ribbon UI employed by Microsoft Office 2007 is significantly different from the UI that was previously used previous office versions. Also, the interface of Internet Explorer 7.0 is way different than previous I.E. versions. The firewall and security improvements in Vista represent a fundamental change in the way Windows handles security. Change does come to Windows and anyone who has really used Windows would know that.
3. Culture Shock. The idea is that because its a community of hackers, crackers, writers, and enthuisast that it makes for better support. Once again, thats completely irrelavent. There are more online forums dedicated to Microsoft Windows users, that are free and easily accessable. The sheer numbers of the Windows Base and the enthuisast simply outnumber the entire Linux base. I can find workarounds for any Microsoft OS easier than I can find a Linux forum. Second, unlike some of these Linux guys who we absolutely know nothing about, the guys at Microsoft are college professionals. They are well educated and because they have a salary, they are accountable. Which brings me to my point, who the hell do I hold accountable if a Linux distro completely wrecks my system? The distros? Again, because its all free, there is no accountability for shotty or flawed coding. If Microsoft screws up, I can get my refund plus tech support. Since Microsoft has spent millions of dollars in developing a tech infrastructure, its not very hard to get some one to fix your machine. Ever try to find a business that does fix Linux machines? Good luck.
4. Old vs New. This section is completely disingenuous to Windows users. With our ability to access the registry within Windows, we can do the same tweaks to the OS that any Linux user can do. They no more create an OS than anyone else. The Distros act like Microsoft with the community of Linux users to make an OS. Microsoft does the same thing, except we have a corporate business community, software business community, financial business community, IT industry community, the MSDN and TechNet community of enthusiasts/professionals to make changes and "build Windows." Except the sheer numbers make a better product. We have exactly as much input when a new "Windows" comes out. Thats what the Beta and RC programs are all about.
5.This article contradicts itself. "The user knows everything so there is no need for "user friendly" features. The user knows everything there is to know about the software; he doesn't need help." Then what the hell was that about community, forums, and distros? You don't call that help? Then he goes on about software being too hard for the Windows user. Almost every piece of software is reviewed by IT media companies, including complexity or simplicity of use. Anyone can find reviews on any piece of software made for Windows Machines. Once again, a very disingenuous article because most people don't want to waste time manipulating code. If its that beta-ish where you have to manipulate code, then its not ready for average user who isn't going to adopt any Linux OS. The entire Mac OS line is dedicated to user friendly people who simply want to get to work.
5. This article deals with user friendly. So all those beta and RC that both Microsoft and Apple use don't make a great easy to use product for the masses. Lets see, who has all the money and market? Linux has less than 1 percent. Apple has about 2.87 percent of the world market and about 6 percent of the U.S. market. Now Microsoft has 96 percent of the world market with about 93 percent here in the U.S. Through out this entire article and section, Linux novices are insulted because we have to learn everything about the OS and the software? Who the hell has that kind of time in 2008 and yet has a job? With husbands, wifes, kids, jobs, civic responsibities, religion, politics, entertainment, and other parts of American or World life..... Who wants to tinker with a OS that requries that much effort? For what, watching YouTube clips, sending your friends email, editing your vacation photos, burning music CD's, and seeing who's winning the election on MSNBC? Again, you have to gage whether that effort is really worth it. For 15 years, the entire WORLD has concluded... Its not that important!
6. Everyone who has ever known computer history knows that the real birth of the GUI belongs to the briliant but hardly rememberd Xerox Parc team of Palo Alto. Also, if you really research Windows history, the roots of the Windows OS actually begins in 1981. Microsoft began development of the Interface Manager (Later it would be renamed to "Windows."). In 1982, the emerging Windows UI was changed to resemble the GUI from the Xerox Star (Thanks to a flawed contract signed by Apple.). Windows 1.00 was actually demonstrated at Comdex in Atlanta, Georgia in the spring of 1983! It was announced th the keynote speech by Bill Gates. That means while Jim Gettys and Scheifler began their work on X-Windows in 1984, they definitely heard about Windows and had seen what Microsoft was up to. So in many ways, Microsoft influenced X Windows and every Linux GUI. Even today there is a Vista-Ubuntu theme for Linux. Appearantly, there's something good about Windows that Linux users frequently adopt the GUI.
7. FOSS. The problem with it is that it is free. One of the basic fundamentals in our current existence is one of the roots of all evil. Money. Its a necessary evil. It pays for the roof you sleep under. It pays for the food that you eat. It pays for the computer you are reading this on, and it pays for the internet access you're using. Nobody makes money on Free Open Source Software. Therefore, why make video games that you have to charge money under? No reason and thats why over 99 percent of PC games are officially unsupported. People want to get paid, like it or not, want it or not. Now while I love the Star Trek and Star Wars Jedi ideals, this is not a world in which that kind of utopian values can be adopted. Can we get there one day, absolutely. Are we there yet? Hell No. Not by th nearest stretch. Linux values must make way to practicality and the realistic nature of the real world. The reason Linux has not caught on is that so many people is that Linus Torvalds and Richard Stallman has failed to act like a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. You need someone to truely act as a unifying force and create a unified vision. Allow for all the variants and variations of Linux but under one roof. You can licence the rights to development to Red Hat, Novell, Ubuntu, Sun, etc... But then take that collective talent, throw in some marketing, and sell a version to reward people to want to make it better. Get all the 3rd party software on board.
If Stallman and Torvalds had done that, Linux might be as big as you guys want it to be. The problem is that none of them wants to be Gates or Jobs. Thats why Linux is still just a hobbyist, enthuisasts, and minor subculture of the computer world.

Waethorn, I've decided I'm going to ratchet down my tone with you just because I don't want to feed your misperception of Mac users any longer. Also, I don't think it's becoming of me to mud sling, no matter how amazingly frustrating you can be. So from now on, nothing but the facts. I hope, in exchange, that we can have fuller debates on the core subjects with less platform bashing in general.
Now...
You're wrong about the ram. The consumer macbook does support 4GB of ram with Leopard (or tiger) seeing all 4gb. We swapped out the default ram with 4GB on my sister's macbook for $100 from macsales.com
My home Mac Pro has 9GB of ram which I use to it's full extend when multi-proc encoding in compressor while ripping multiple DVD's at once. The whole 64bit transition is an area where Apple has an undisputable lead over MS. Leopard is one OS with 32bit and 64bit full compability on all existing 64bit Macs going back to the first G5 towers. For whatever reason, architecturally, Apple is able to be far more nimble with platform transitions.
As for the R&D expenses... I'm not sure how you can argue that Apple doesn't spend more on R&D then dell or acer or any other pure PC OEM. HP is a huge company that has always done plenty of R&D... just not so much on the PC hardware side where's they're fighting the margin war.
Apple develops their own desktop and server OS. A huge suite of very complex and popular consumer and pro applications (iLife, iWork, Final Cut Studio, Logic, Aperture). They developed original video codecs (pixlet, prores). They're running a massive online enterprise with iTunes. The iphone alone is a big R&D job.
They appear to do tons of custom board work (vs simply taking the intel reference design and running with it). The inside of the Mac Pro is clearly all custom and still has no equal on the PC desktop side.
I'm not sure why you have blinders on regarding Apple's software development, but you seem to be unable to acknowledge it. Apple's software is what makes them worthwhile. It's the reason I use the Mac. That the machine are incredibly well made, generally reliable and stylish is a bonus.
As for your business's pricing and lack of R&D... I don't quite understand what you're saying. I never suggested that you make more profit than Apple. I'm suggesting that you can and should be selling cheaper machines than Apple since you have fewer fixed costs in your business.
Did I miss something? Are you shipping the Waethorn OS with your boxes? Has your company written an integrated media application suite that you aren't sharing with us?
I concede that you can find cheaper PCs out there than Macs. I concede that Apple doesn't offer a machine for every market (no consumer gaming boxes with single quad-core desktops). But that doesn't prove that Apple "gouges". Microsoft does "gouge" and that's a fact of their monopoly power and pricing.
I find it ignorant of you to suggest that Apple has no R&D. It's not a fair criticism or an honest one.

What I Use

Like many, I was hoping to see a new Lumia flagship before the end of 2014, and while I was pleasantly surprised in some ways by both the Lumia 735 and 830, neither offers the level of performance or best-in-market camera quality I had come to expected from Microsoft/Nokia's high-end devices. So I pulled the trigger on an unlocked Windows Phone flagship that will hopefully take me through at least the first half of this year. Or until Microsoft gets off its low-end fixation and satisfies the needs of its biggest fans....More

It's been a while since the last What I Use, but there haven't been many major changes since late last year: Surface Pro 3 has become my go-to travel companion, I've added a third cellphone line for testing Windows Phone, Android and iPhone side-by-side, and have rotated through some new tablets and other devices. We've also switched from FIOS to Comcast and added to our set-top box collection....More